World Change-Personal Narrative

1 What is coal? Coal is a substance we consider today a fossil fuel, created from all the dead plants millions of years ago. Coal is formed from prehistoric plants that when they die are not able to release the energy they built up from photosynthesis Typically the plants had fallen into large swamps and bogs, and then over time the dead plants lying on the bottom of the swamps and bogs were slowly covered with other dead plants and sediment build-up. Once buried the plants were subjected to high amounts of pressure and temperatures, which over long periods of time it becomes peat then eventually creates coal. We refer to coal as a “fossil fuel” today because it is created from prehistoric plants and the coal we have today has been millions of years since it was in plant form. Today we coal is still being created we just don’t fully recognize it because how long the process actually takes.

Coal: A Human History was written by Barbara Freese to focus on the history of coal and how mankind has used it as part of their lifestyle. Ever since the times when early nomads used the slash-and-burn method, coal has been around acting as jewelry for the Romans and as fuel for peasants and the noble class in Britain. Coal was in such high demand that many inventions were utilized for the convenience of retrieving it from intolerable conditions such as vacuums and the construction of more efficient underground tunnels. The book gives insight of how this small stone has been so vital to humans that they were able to adapt to the ways coal best functions.

They are alive poems” (15-16). The plants and animals have evolved and developed to fill specific roles and niches on the earth. People should not just use the plants and animals without regard for their place on the earth; instead, people should study the plants and the animals, learn from them, and in exchange, protect them from misuse, over-use, or destruction. This is important because “all is in motion, is growing, is you” (23), the speaker tells the listener. If the listener cannot learn from the plants and the animals, cannot protect the earth, or cannot relate to her fellow human, the fragile relationship between the environment and humanity is disrupted, and the growing stops. Without the growth, humanity will soon cease to be, because that growth is what makes humanity what it is, it is what provides the catalyst for people to think, to speak, to advance.

Being a fossil fuel is extremely boring. With millions of years of sitting in one place you get board. Finally, i wake up to being shipped off to the navajo generating plant. A couple days into being there i get to the furnace, and get burned. Now i'm co2 in the atmosphere, again.

As a young child, I was always on the edge–the edge of the forbidden forest that cast my backyard in shadow, the edge of the high-rising countertop that threatened to falter my steps, and the edge of the North American continent on the old dusty map spread across my bedroom floor. I was adventurous; I loved to seek all that was unknown in the environment by which I was surrounded. The curiosity within me has bloomed as the years have come to pass; it has taken me to places I had once dreamed of and has been my guide through the inception of discovering the veins of glorious life that pump restlessly through the world and me. This yearning for sagacious knowledge has fueled my desire to follow along a scientific path; with that said, my professional goal is to negate the mundane and explore the world (and preserve its beauty) through work as an environmental

Coal: A Human History was written by Barbara Freese to focus on the history of coal and how mankind has used it as part of their lifestyle. Ever since the times when early nomads used the slash-and-burn method, coal has been around acting as jewelry for the Romans and as fuel for peasants and the noble class in Britain. Coal was in such high demand that many inventions were utilized for the convenience of retrieving it from intolerable conditions such as vacuums and the construction of more efficient underground tunnels. The book gives insight of how this small stone has been so vital to humans that they were able to adapt to the ways coal best functions.

After discovering this book through my AP Environmental Science class and my AP United States History class, I chose to read Silent Spring by Rachel Carson. I have a strong passion for science. With that being said, I also have a yearning to develop a connection to the outside world. It seems that in today’s society, many individuals are ignorant to how the world functions and how living and nonliving organisms interact. However, it is not entirely these individuals’ fault. In fact, many people are not aware of how we, as a species, are able coexist in a world of many different beings—both abiotic and biotic. Therefore, in order to combat the status quo of subjective norms, I have read Silent Spring.

The sound of the chirping birds awoke me. The smell of the grassy-smelling rain tickled my nose as I pried my heavy eyes open, tired from yesterday’s long day of adventuring. I squirmed out of my cozy sleeping bag, being gentle on my sore back after sleeping on the diamond-hard rock last night. I crawled out of my little compact tent as my stomach growled of hunger. I looked out to the foggy distance where the egg yolk-like sun was rising from behind the bumpy, tree-filled mountains. I gathered my hiking essentials and munched on a protein bar as I started exploring on the wet, slippery trail. Suddenly, I heard a footstep behind me. I turned around, but nothing in particular was there. I kept strolling along, observing the many species wandering

I was in the lithosphere-fossil fuel as coal for another couple millions of years. I was coal at the Kayenta Mine. I was sat with more coal and sparkly jewels that no one actually needed. They needed me, they wanted me, I was a precious source of energy, and that was what I was used for. They mined me and burned me to produce power. Once again I was CO2 and I was off to the

Years of looking at a tree and seeing a photosynthesizing plant and returning to our air-conditioned homes, has lead us to feeling that we are separate, even fundamentally different from our natural landscapes. When taking the chance to consider Maine as more then a place, to consider it a her, then the once 2-dimensional landscape becomes three dimensional as all the systems and processes of ecosystems also act as the organs of a human would. Trees center this landscape for Maine by working as her physical and spiritual heart, acting as the connection between all of the natural non-living systems, and the rest of the body. That remaining piece of the body being the humans in the landscape, the arbiter of action for the entire entity. As this concept expands, it encompasses all parts of our world, and placing us humans at the head of an evolving story. One that only we can control, and one that will decide whether Maine, as well as our planet will continue living with a beating heart or will slowly wither

Nature’s way of taking and giving back to earth. It symbolizes the universe being sacred and divine. It epitomized the infinite nature of energy, the understanding if something dies it gives new life to another. As the circle of life was inflicted in my mind, we, the 8th graders were at the top of the food chain and in a couple months from now we will “die” and go into a different life - High School. Meanwhile “nature” will give back new generations - the incoming 6th graders as the old ones “die” and move on. We, I will be exactly the same as them, lost, worried and eager, overtaken by the new atmosphere that will fill my mind and surround my body. I will be at the bottom of the food chain replacing the old generation of freshman at highschool. At the bottom of the food chain once again, ready to start climbing my way to the top, one chain at the time, I will be faced with the same and different worries as before. I am alike from the incoming 6th

The author’s purpose was meant to encourage the people around the world to respect their environment. Our environment can be amazing to explore and traverse, however it is important that we “Kill nothing but time.”, as the author

coal. Once you can dig down deep and find out what your current mindset is you’ll

In today’s society fossil fuels are the primary source of energy for most of the industrialized world. Utilizing fossil fuels has been very important to the industrialization development throughout the world. Industrialization in many parts of the world, energy has been needed at a much higher density then before and fossil fuels have fulfilled that need. Coal, gas, and oil are the three major sources of fossil fuels in the world. Despite other means of energy such as wind power, hydroelectric power etc., fossil fuels are still the main source of energy across the continent. Fossils fuels are critical to the function of society. “Fossil fuels (oil, coal, and natural gas) are the dominant source of energy today and will be for decades to come.” (Everett, B. October).

It’s sad and lamentable what we have to see and hear about the damage of our planet. How Mother Nature is decaying in her environment and shows sense